YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The Youngstown Parks and Recreation Committee met on Tuesday to discuss park safety.

Clemate Franklin, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said there is currently a safety assessment taking place. It will determine if there are any safety hazards at any of the city’s parks.

Franklin says recently they removed an unsafe slide from Ipe’s Park. He said despite caution tape and holes in the slide, children were still playing on it.

In addition to the safety assessment, the department will be replacing 42 surveillance cameras if council approves the funding at its Wednesday meeting.

The upgraded cameras will include modems at each park which will allow the cameras to keep running even during a Wi-Fi outage. They will run 24/7 and have a backup charger.

The assessment will also determine if they need to order more surveillance cameras and what camera angles are needed.

During the meeting, the concern of security guards also came up.

First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver and Sixth Ward Councilwoman Anita Davis expressed concern over the fact that the three security guards are tasked with patrolling all the parks throughout the day, preventing a stationary security guard from being at each park.

“Presence should prevent things from happening,” Oliver said, suggesting there should be a security guard present at each park.

Franklin agreed there is a need for more security guards.

The safety assessment should be completed by the end of June, Franklin said.